This is a pilot study on drug use among women initiated to refine the conceptualization and to develop the instrumentation and a sample design for a subsequent large scale survey. The aim of the research is to investigate the relationship between the use of various legal and illegal drugs by women and psychosocial factors, in particular, sex roles and the nature of the daily strains and stresses women encounter in the performance of their roles. Special emphasis is placed on the use of drugs as a coping mechanism. The following roles are investigated: education, labor force participation, marriage (or being single), and parenting. Use of the following ten drugs is examined: cigarettes, alcohol, marihuana, psychedelics, heroin, other opiate, cocaine, and the medical and nonmedical use of stimulants, sedatives, and tranquilizers. Two hundred interviews will be conducted with different types of women, from different social and ethnic groups. In addition to inquiring about social role participation, strains of daily living and coping mechanisms, the instrument measures psychological states assumed to be especially important for understanding the functioning of women, namely, dependence, lack of sense of control, and depressive mood.